《黎明踏浪號》第16章:真正的世界盡頭
REEPICHEEP was the only person on board besides Drinian and the two Pevensies who had noticed the Sea People. He had dived in at once when he saw the Sea King shaking his spear, for he regarded this as a sort of threat or challenge and wanted to have the matter out there and then. The excitement of discovering that the water was now fresh had distracted his attention, and before he remembered the Sea People again Lucy and Drinian had taken him aside and warned him not to mention what he had seen.
As things turned out they need hardly have bothered, for by this time the Dawn Treader was gliding over a part of the sea which seemed to be uninhabited. No one except Lucy saw anything more of the People, and even she had only one short glimpse. All morning on the following day they sailed in fairly shallow water and the bottom was weedy. Just before midday Lucy saw a large shoal of fishes grazing on the weed. They were all eating steadily and all moving in the same direction. "Just like a flock of sheep," thought Lucy. Suddenly she saw a little Sea Girl of about her own age in the middle of them - a quiet, lonely-looking girl with a sort of crook in her hand. Lucy felt sure that this girl must be a shepherdess - or perhaps a fish-herdess and that the shoal was really a flock at pasture. Both the fishes and the girl were quite close to the surface. And just as the girl, gliding in the shallow water, and Lucy, leaning over the bulwark, came opposite to one another, the girl looked up and stared straight into Lucy's face. Neither could speak to the other and in a moment the Sea Girl dropped astern. But Lucy will never forget her face. It did not look frightened or angry like those of the other Sea People. Lucy had liked that girl and she felt certain the girl had liked her. In that one moment they had somehow become friends. There does not seem to be much chance of their meeting again in that world or any other. But if ever they do they will rush together with their hands held out.
After that for many days, without wind in her shrouds or foam at her bows, across a waveless sea, the Dawn Treader glided smoothly east. Every day and every hour the light became more brilliant and still they could bear it. No one ate or slept and no one wanted to, but they drew buckets of dazzling water from the sea, stronger than wine and somehow wetter, more liquid, than ordinary water, and pledged one another silently in deep draughts of it. And one or two of the sailors who had been oldish men when the voyage began now grew younger every day. Everyone on board was filled with joy and excitement, but not an excitement that made one talk. The further they sailed the less they spoke, and then almost in a whisper. The stillness of that last sea laid hold on them.
"My Lord," said Caspian to Drinian one day, "what do you see ahead?"
"Sire," said Drinian, "I see whiteness. All along the horizon from north to south, as far as my eyes can reach."
"That is what I see too," said Caspian, "and I cannot imagine what it is."
"If we were in higher latitudes, your Majesty," said Drinian, "I would say it was ice. But it can't be that; not here. All the same, we'd better get men to the oars and hold the ship back against the current. Whatever the stuff is, we don't want to crash into it at this speed!"
They did as Drinian said, and so continued to go slower and slower. The whiteness did not get any less mysterious as they- approached it. If it was land it must be a very strange land, for it seemed just as smooth as the water and on the same level with it. When they got very close to it Drinian put the helm hard over and turned the Dawn Treader south so that she was broadside on to the current and rowed a little way southward along the edge of the whiteness. In so doing they accidentally made the important discovery that the current was only about forty feet wide and the rest of the sea as still as a pond. This was good news for the crew, who had already begun to think that the return journey to Ramandu's land, rowing against stream all the way, would be pretty poor sport. (It also explained why the shepherd girl had dropped so quickly astern. She was not in the current. If she had been she would have been moving east at the same speed as the ship.)
And still no one could make out what the white stuff was. Then the boat was lowered and it put off to investigate. Those who remained on the Dawn Treader could see that the boat pushed right in amidst the whiteness. Then they could hear the voices of the party in the boat clear across the still water) talking in a shrill and surprised way. Then there was a pause while Rynelf in the bows of the boat took a sounding; and when, after that, the boat came rowing back there seemed to be plenty of the white stuff inside her. Everyone crowded to the side to hear the news.
"Lilies, your Majesty!" shouted Rynelf, standing up in the bows.
"What did you say?" asked Caspian.
"Blooming lilies, your Majesty," said Rynelf. "Same as in a pool or in a garden at home."
"Look!" said Lucy, who was in the stern of the boat. She held up her wet arms full of white petals and broad flat leaves.
"What's the depth, Rynelf?" asked Drinian.
"That's the funny thing, Captain," said Rynelf. "It's still deep. Three and a half fathoms clear."
"They can't be real lilies - not what we call lilies," said Eustace.
Probably they were not, but they were very like them. And when, after some consultation, the Dawn Treader turned back into the current and began to glide eastward through the Lily Lake or the Silver Sea (they tried both these names but it was the Silver Sea that stuck and is now on Caspian's map) the strangest part of their travels began. Very soon the open sea which they were leaving was only a thin rim of blue on the western horizon. Whiteness, shot with faintest colour of gold, spread round them on every side, except just astern where their passage had thrust the lilies apart and left an open lane of water that shone like dark green glass. To look at, this last sea was very like the Arctic; and if their eyes had not by now grown as strong as eagles' the sun on all that whiteness - especially at early morning when the sun was hugest would have been unbearable. And every evening the same whiteness made the daylight last longer. There seemed no end to the lilies. Day after day from all those miles and leagues of flowers there rose a smell which Lucy found it very hard to describe; sweet - yes, but not at all sleepy or overpowering, a fresh, wild, lonely smell that seemed to get into your brain and make you feel that you could go up mountains at a run or wrestle with an elephant. She and Caspian said to one another, "I feel that I can't stand much more of this, yet I don't want it to stop."
They took soundings very often but it was only several days later that the water became shallower. After that it went on getting shallower. There came a day when they had to row out of the current and feel their way forward at a snail's pace, rowing. And soon it was clear that the Dawn Treader could sail no further east. Indeed it was only by very clever handling that they saved her from grounding.
"Lower the boat," cried Caspian, "and then call the men aft. I must speak to them."
"What's he going to do?" whispered Eustace to Edmund. "There's a queer look in his eyes."
"I think we probably all look the same," said Edmund.
They joined Caspian on the poop and soon all the men were crowded together at the foot of the ladder to hear the King's speech. "Friends," said Caspian, "we have now fulfilled the quest on which you embarked. The seven lords are all accounted for and as Sir Reepicheep has sworn never to return, when you reach Ramandu's Land you will doubtless find the Lords Revilian and Argoz and Mavramorn awake. To you, my Lord Drinian, I entrust this ship, bidding you sail to Narnia with all the speed you may, and above all not to land on the Island of Deathwater. And instruct my regent, the Dwarf Trumpkin, to give to all these, my shipmates, the rewards I promised them. They have been earned well. And if I come not again it is my will that the Regent, and Master Cornelius, and Trufflehunter the Badger, and the Lord Drinian choose a King of Narnia with the consent-"
"But, Sire," interrupted Drinian, "are you abdicating?"
"I am going with Reepicheep to see the World's End," said Caspian.
A low murmur of dismay ran through the sailors.
"We will take the boat," said Caspian. "You will have no need of it in these gentle seas and you must build a new one in Ramandu's island. And now-"
"Caspian," said Edmund suddenly and sternly, "you can't do this."
"Most certainly," said Reepicheep, "his Majesty cannot."
"No indeed," said Drinian.
"Can't?" said Caspian sharply, looking for a moment not unlike his uncle Miraz.
"Begging your Majesty's pardon," said Rynelf from the deck below, "but if one of us did the same it would be called deserting."
"You presume too much on your long service, Rynelf," said Caspian.
"No, Sire! He's perfectly right," said Drinian.
"By the Mane of Aslan," said Caspian, "I had thought you were all my subjects here, not my schoolmasters."
"I'm not," said Edmund, "and I say you can not do this."
"Can't again," said Caspian. "What do you mean?"
"If it please your Majesty, we mean shall not," said Reepicheep with a very low bow. "You are the King of Narnia. You break faith with all your subjects, and especially with Trumpkin, if you do not return. You shall not please yourself with adventures as if you were a private person. And if your Majesty will not hear reason it will be the truest loyalty of every man on board to follow me in disarming and binding you till you come to your senses."
"Quite right," said Edmund. "Like they did with Ulysses when he wanted to go near the Sirens."
Caspian's hand had gone to his sword hilt, when Lucy said, "And you've almost promised Ramandu's daughter to go back."
Caspian paused. "Well, yes. There is that," he said. He stood irresolute for a moment and then shouted out to the ship in general.
"Well, have your way. The quest is ended. We all return. Get the boat up again."
"Sire," said Reepicheep, "we do not all return. I, as I explained before -"
"Silence!" thundered Caspian. "I've been lessoned but I'll not be baited. Will no one silence that Mouse?"
"Your Majesty promised," said Reepicheep, "to be good lord to the Talking Beasts of Narnia."
"Talking beasts, yes," said Caspian. "I said nothing about beasts that never stop talking." And he flung down the ladder in a temper and went into the cabin, slamming the door.
But when the others rejoined him a little later they found him changed; he was white and there were tears in his eyes.
"It's no good," he said. "I might as well have behaved decently for all the good I did with my temper and swagger. Aslan has spoken to me. No - I don't mean he was actually here. He wouldn't fit into the cabin, for one thing. But that gold lion's head on the wall came to life and spoke to me. It was terrible his eyes. Not that he was at all rough with me - only a bit stern at first. But it was terrible all the same. And he said - he said - oh, I can't bear it. The worst thing he could have said. You're to go on - Reep and Edmund, and Lucy, and Eustace; and I'm to go back. Alone. And at once. And what is the good of anything?"
"Caspian, dear," said Lucy. "You knew we'd have to go back to our own world sooner or later."
"Yes," said Caspian with a sob, "but this is sooner."
"You'll feel better when you get back to Ramandu's Island," said Lucy.
He cheered up a little later on, but it was a grievous parting oo both sides and I will not dwell on it. About two o'clock in the afternoon, well victualled and watered (though they thought they would need neither food nor drink) and with Reepicheep's coracle on board, the boat pulled away from the Dawn Treader to row through the endless carpet of lilies. The Dawn Trader flew all her flags and hung out her shields to honour their departure. Tall and big and homelike she looked from their low position with the lilies all round them. And before she was out of sight they saw her turn and begin rowing slowly westward. Yet though Lucy shed a few tears, she could not feel it as much as you might have expected. The light, the silence, the tingling smell of the Silver Sea, even (in some odd way) the loneliness itself, were too exciting.
There was no need to row, for the current drifted them steadily to the east. None of them slept or ate. All that night and all next day they glided eastward, and when the third day dawned - with a brightness you or I could not bear even if we had dark glasses on - they saw a wonder ahead. It was as if a wall stood up between them and the sky, a greenish-grey, trembling, shimmering wall. Then up came the sun, and at its first rising they saw it through the wall and it turned into wonderful rainbow colours. Then they knew that the wall was really a long, tall wave - a wave endlessly fixed in one place as you may often see at the edge of a waterfall. It seemed to be about thirty feet high, and the current was gliding them swiftly towards it. You might have supposed they would have thought of their danger. They didn't. I don't think anyone could have in their position. For now they saw something not only behind the wave but behind the sun. They could not have seen even the sun if their eyes had not been strengthened by the water of the Last Sea. But now they could look at the rising sun and see it clearly and see things beyond it. What they saw - eastward, beyond the sun - was a range of mountains. It was so high that either they never saw the top of it or they forgot it. None of them remembers seeing any sky in that direction. And the mountains must really have been outside the world. For any mountains even a quarter of a twentieth of that height ought to have had ice and snow on them. But these were warm and green and full, of forests and waterfalls however high you looked. And suddenly there came a breeze from the east, tossing the top of the wave into foamy shapes and ruffling the smooth water all round them. It lasted only a second or so but what it brought them in that second none of those three children will ever forget. It brought both a smell and a sound, a musical sound Edmund and Eustace would never talk about it afterwards. Lucy could only say, "It would break your heart." "Why," said I, "was it so sad: " "Sad!! No," said Lucy.
No one in that boat doubted chat they were seeing beyond the End of the World into Aslan's country.
At that moment, with a crunch, the boat ran aground. The water was too shallow now for it. "This," said Reepicheep, "is where I go on alone."
They did not even try to stop dim, for everything now felt as if it had been fated or had happened before. They helped him to lower his little coracle. Then he took off his sword ("I shall need it no more," he said) and flung it far away across the Idled sea. Where it fell it stood upright with the hilt above the surface. Then he bade them goodbye trying to be sad for their sakes but he was quivering with happiness. Lucy, for the first and last time, did what she had always wanted to do, taking him in her arms and caressing him. Then hastily he got into his coracle and took his paddle, and the current caught it and away he went, very black against the lilies. But no lilies grew on the wave; it was a smooth green slope. The coracle went more and more quickly, and beautifully it rushed up the wave's side. For one split second they saw its shape and Reepicheep's on the very top. Then it vanished, and since that moment no one can truly claim to have seen Reepicheep the Mouse. But my belief is that he came safe to Aslan's country and is alive there to this day.
As the sun rose the sight of those mountains outside the world faded away. The wave remained but there was only blue sky behind it.
The children got out of the boat and waded - not towards the wave but southward with the wall of water on their left. They could not have told you why they did this; it was their fate. And though they had felt - and been very grown-up on the Dawn Treader, they now felt just the opposite and held hands as they waded through the lilies. They never felt tired. The water was warm and all the time it got shallower. At last they were on dry sand, and then on grass - a huge plain of very fine short grass, almost level with the Silver Sea and spreading in every direction without so much as a molehill.
And of course, as it always does in a perfectly flat place without trees, it looked as if the sky came down to meet the grass in front of them. But as they went on they got the strangest impression that here at last the sky did really come down and join the earth - a blue wall, very bright, but real and solid: more like glass than anything else. And soon they were quite sure of it. It was very near now.
But between them and the foot of the sky there was something so white on the green grass that even with their eagles' eyes they could hardly look at it. They came on and saw that it was a Lamb.
"Come and have breakfast," said the Lamb in its sweet milky voice.
Then they noticed for the first time that there was a fire lit on the grass and fish roasting on it. They sat down and ate the fish, hungry now for the first time for many days. And it was the most delicious food they had ever tasted.
"Please, Lamb," said Lucy, "is this the way to Aslan's country?"
"Not for you," said the Lamb. "For you the door into Aslan's country is from your own world."
"What!" said Edmund. "Is there a way into Aslan's country from our world too?"
"There is a way into my country from all the worlds," said the Lamb; but as he spoke his snowy white flushed into tawny gold and his size changed and he was Aslan himself, towering above them and scattering light from his mane.
"Oh, Aslan," said Lucy. "Will you tell us how to get into your country from our world?"
"I shall be telling you all the time," said Aslan. "But I will not tell you how long or short the way will be; only that it lies across a river. But do not fear that, for I am the great Bridge Builder. And now come; I will open the door in the sky and send you to your own land."
"Please, Aslan," said Lucy. "Before we go, will you tell us when we can come back to Narnia again? Please. And oh, do, do, do make it soon." '
"Dearest," said Aslan very gently, "you and your brother will never come balk to Narnia."
"Oh, Aslan!!" said Edmund and Lucy both together in despairing voices.
"You are too old, children," said Aslan, "and you must begin to come close to your own world now."
"It isn't Narnia, you know," sobbed Lucy. "It's you. We shan't meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?"
"But you shall meet me, dear one," said Aslan.
"Are are you there too, Sir?" said Edmund.
"I am," said Aslan. "But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there."
"And is Eustace never to come back here either?" said Lucy.
"Child," said Aslan, "do you really need to know that? Come, I am opening the door in the sky." Then all in one moment there was a rending of the blue wall (like a curtain being torn) and a terrible white light from beyond the sky, and the feel of Aslan's mane and a Lion's kiss on their foreheads and then - the bark bedroom in Aunt Alberta's home in Cambridge.
Only two more things need to be told. One is that Caspian and his men all came safely back to Ramandu's Island. And the three lords woke from their sleep. Caspian married Ramandu's daughter and they all reached Narnia in the end, and she became a great queen and the mother and grandmother of great kings. The other is that back in our own world everyone soon started saying how Eustace had improved, and how "You'd never know him for the same boy": everyone except Aunt Alberta, who said he had become very commonplace and tiresome and it must have been the influence of those Pevensie children.
結果他們倒不怎麼要傷腦筋了，因為這時黎明踏浪號正在一片看來沒有人的海域裏悄悄行駛。除了露茜之外，誰也沒再看見海人，即使她也只是匆匆一瞥。第二天整個早晨，他們這條船都在很淺的水裏行駛，海底長滿水草。晌午前露茜看見一大羣魚在水草上游過。這羣魚都在不斷吃食，全都朝一個方向遊動。“就跟羊羣似的，”露茜心裏想。冷不防在魚羣中看見一個小海女，年紀跟她差不多。這是一個舉止文靜，神情孤獨的姑娘，手裏拿着一根鈎子似的東西。露茜相信這姑娘一定是個牧羊女——也許該説是牧魚女——那羣魚真像在草原上吃草似的。魚羣和那姑娘都貼近水面。那姑娘在淺水裏滑行的時候，露茜正好趴在舷牆上，兩個人打了個照面，那姑娘抬眼看着，恰好盯着露茜的臉。誰也不能跟對方説話，因為一會兒工夫那姑娘就落在船尾後了。可是露茜永遠忘不了她的臉。這張臉看上去並不像其他海人臉色那麼害怕和憤怒。露茜喜歡那姑娘，她感到那姑娘肯定也喜歡她。在那短短一瞬間，不知怎的，她們竟成了朋友。看來在這個世界裏或任何其他世界裏，她們是沒多大機會再見面的了。不過萬一見了面，她們準會一齊迫不及待地伸出手去。
之後，有好多天支桅索上沒有風，船頭處沒有泡沫，黎明踏浪號平平穩穩地朝東行駛，駛過一片平靜無波的海面。每天每時光線都變得更加耀眼，但他們竟受得了。沒人吃，沒人睡，也沒人想吃想睡，大家就把水桶往海里汲些耀眼的水，這水比酒更醇，總之比一般水更濕潤，更清澈，他們就互相默默乾杯，一飲而盡。有一兩個水手在開始遠航時已經老態龍鍾，現在是一天比一天年輕。船上人人都喜氣洋洋，興奮萬狀，但並沒興奮得想要説話。他們越往遠處航行，話説得越少，後來幾乎像在説悄悄話了。最後那一片大海的寧靜深深抓住了他們。
“爵爺，”有一天凱斯賓對德里寧説，“你看前面是什麼?”
“陛下，”德里寧説，“我看見一片白茫茫。就我肉眼所能看到的，從北到南的地平線上全是白茫茫的。”
“這個我也看到了，”凱斯賓説，“我想像不出是什麼東西。”
“陛下，如果我們在緯度較高的地方，”德里寧説，“倒可以説這是冰。可是這不可能是冰，這裏沒冰。話雖這麼説，我們最好還是派人划槳，別讓船隨着水流漂行。不管那是什麼玩意兒，我們萬萬不能以這種速度一頭撞進去。”;
大家按德里寧的吩咐去做，船才越來越慢，越來越慢。等他們靠近了，那片白茫茫的神祕色彩還是沒有減退。要説這是一片陸地吧，一定是非常奇特的土地，因為它看上去同水一樣滑，而且同水面一樣高。當他們離這很近的時候，德里寧使勁轉舵，把船身轉向南面，這樣舷側就對着水流，再沿着那片白茫茫的邊緣往南劃一段路。正在這麼忙的時候，他們偶然有個重大發現，原來這股水流只有四十英尺寬，而其他海面還是跟池塘一樣寧靜。這對船員無疑是個喜訊，他們已經開始擔心重返拉曼杜的島上那段路程，一路上逆流划槳的話，可要吃苦頭了。(這點也説明那個牧魚姑娘為什麼那麼快就落在船尾後了。因為她不在那股水流裏。如果她當時在水流裏，早就跟船的漂流速度一樣快地向東漂流了。)3
不過，還是沒人弄得明白那白茫茫的東西是什麼。於是就放下小船，劃去偵察。留在大船上的人都看得到小船筆直划進那片白茫茫的東西當中。後來他們都聽得到從一汪止水那邊傳來小船上那些人大驚小怪的説話聲。賴尼夫在小船船頭測量水深時，大家稍停片刻；事成之後，小船劃回來時，船裏似乎有不少那種白的東西。人人都擠到舷側聽消息。)
“陛下，是百合花!”賴尼夫站在小船船頭大聲喊道。
“你説什麼?”凱斯賓問。
“陛下，盛開的百合花，”賴尼夫説，“跟國內花園裏的一模一樣。”
“瞧!”露茜在小船船尾上説。她舉起濕漉漉的雙臂，捧滿雪白的花瓣和寬闊扁平的葉子。
“水深多少，賴尼夫?”德里寧問。
“船長，真是怪事，”賴尼夫説，“水還是很深。整整三英尋半。”
“這不可能是真正的百合花——不是我們所説的百合花。”尤斯塔斯説。
這恐怕不是百合花，但非常相像。經過一番商量，黎明踏浪號又掉轉船頭開進水流中，開始往東行駛，穿越百合湖，或稱銀海(這兩個名稱他們都試過，不過銀海沿用至今，現在凱斯賓的地圖上就用這名稱)，這時他們這次遠航最希奇的部分開始了。他們離開的那片開闊的海面一下子就只是西邊地平線上一條細細的藍邊。他們周圍四面八方都是白茫茫一片，隱隱閃着黃金色，只有船身排開百合花，在船尾處留出一條水面通道，像深綠色的玻璃那樣閃閃發光。最後這一片大海看上去很像北冰洋，如果他們的眼睛現在沒變得像鷹眼那樣厲害，那白茫茫一大片上面的陽光準使他們受不了，尤其是清晨太陽最大的時候。每天傍晚那白茫茫一大片使白天更長了。百合花似乎無邊無際。連綿千里的白花天天都散發出一股香味，露茜覺得這味兒很難形容；香雖香——但不是香得使人昏昏欲睡，無法忍受，而是一股清新、強勁、幽雅的味兒，似乎鑽進你的腦子，使你覺得自己能跑上高山，或同大象搏鬥。她同凱斯賓互相説：“我覺得我再也受不了這股味兒了，可我又不願聞不到這股味兒。”
他們經常不斷測量水深，但過了好幾天以後海水才變淺，此後就越來越淺。有一天他們不得不靠划槳劃出水流，像蝸牛爬似的一步步劃啊劃的，摸索着前進。不久就明白黎明踏浪號已沒法再往東開了。真是虧得指揮非常巧妙才免得擱淺。+
“放下小船，”凱斯賓叫道，“吩咐大家到船尾來。我必須對大家説一説。”
“他打算幹什麼呀?”尤斯塔斯對愛德蒙悄聲説，“他眼神好怪呢。”
“我想，我們的臉色大概都差不多。”愛德蒙説。
他們到船尾樓去找凱斯賓，一下子全體人員都一起擠在梯腳處聆聽國王講話。"
“朋友們，”凱斯賓説，“我們現在已經完成了你們從事的探險事業。七位爵爺都有了下落，既然雷佩契普爵士發誓絕不回去，等你們大家回到拉曼杜的島上準會發現雷維廉、阿爾戈茲和馬伕拉蒙三位爵爺都醒了。德里寧爵爺，我把這條船託付給你，命令你竭盡全速開回納尼亞去，最重要的是別在死水島那兒上岸。再通知我的攝政王小矮人杜魯普金，把我答應賜給所有這些同船夥伴的獎賞，統統照發不誤。他們都理該受獎。如果我不再回來，我的遺囑就是要攝政王和科內留斯，以及海狸特魯佛漢特和德里寧爵爺一致選舉一位納尼亞國王……”
“可是陛下，”德里寧打斷他道，“你是不是退位了?”
“我要跟雷佩契普去看看世界盡頭。”凱斯賓説。
水手們驚愕得低聲嘀咕起來。
“我們將坐小船，”凱斯賓説，“在這一帶風平浪靜的海面上，你們用不着小船了，你們到了拉曼杜的島上就必須再做一條小船。可現在……”
“凱斯賓，”愛德蒙突然嚴厲地説，“你萬萬不能這樣做。”
“千真萬確，”雷佩契普説，“陛下不能這樣。”
“確實不能。”德里寧説。
“不能?”凱斯賓厲聲説，一時間看上去倒跟他叔父彌若茲沒什麼兩樣。
“請陛下恕罪，”賴尼夫在下面甲板上説，“可是如果我們當中有人這樣做，那就要稱做臨陣脱逃。”
“賴尼夫，你雖為我效勞多年，也未免太放肆了。”凱斯賓説。
“不，陛下!他説得完全對。”德里寧説。
“阿斯蘭在上，”凱斯賓説，“我原以為你們都是我的臣民，不是我的老師。”
“我不是你的臣民，”愛德蒙説，“我就説你不能這樣做。”
“又是不能，”凱斯賓説，“你這是什麼意思?”
“陛下容稟，我們意思是説不該，”雷佩契普深深鞠了一躬，“您是納尼亞國王。如果您不回去的話，就是對您的全體臣民失了信，特別是對杜魯普金。您不該對這些探險活動沾沾自喜，彷彿您是平民百姓似的。如果陛下不聽信説理，那船上每個人只有隨我解除您的武裝，把您綁起來，直到您恢復理智，這才是對您真正的效忠。”
“説得很對，”愛德蒙説，“就像當初尤利西斯要去接近水妖時，人家對待他那樣。”
凱斯賓的手早已去摸劍把，這時露茜説：“而且你幾乎答應過拉曼杜的女兒説要回去的。”
凱斯賓頓了一下。“哦，是的。是有這麼回事。”他説。他一時站在那兒拿不定主意，隨即對全船人員大聲叫着：
“得了，依了你們吧。探險行動結束了。我們統統回去。把小船再吊上來。”
“陛下，”雷佩契普説，“我們並不是統統都回去。我，我以前説明過……”
“靜一靜!’’凱斯賓怒喝道，“我受過教訓了，可我不願受作弄。難道沒人讓那老鼠安靜下來嗎?”
“陛下保證過，”雷佩契普説，“要當納尼亞會説話的獸類的好君主。”
“會説話的獸類，對，”凱斯賓説，“可我沒説過不停説話的獸類。”説着他怒氣衝衝地下了梯子，走進艙裏，使勁碰上了門。
但是稍過一會兒，大家進艙找他，發現他竟變了：他臉色煞白，眼睛裏噙着淚水。
“沒用了，”他説，“儘管我做事愛使性子，擺架子，可是我原該舉止得體的。阿斯蘭對我説過了。不——我不是説他真的在這裏。首先，艙裏太小，容不下他。不過牆上那隻金獅頭活過來對我説話了。他的眼睛——真可怕，不是説他對我粗暴——只是開頭有點嚴厲。不過反正真可怕就是了。他説——他説——啊呀，我真受不了。這是他説出來的最最可怕的事了。你們——雷普、愛德蒙、露茜，還有尤斯塔斯——倒都要繼續往前走了；而我卻要回去，孤零零的，立刻回去。一切還有什麼用呢?”
“親愛的凱斯賓，”露茜説，“你知道我們早晚總得回到自己的世界裏去。”
“是啊，”凱斯賓抽抽噎噎説，“可未免早了些。”
“你回到拉曼杜的島上去後就會感到好受些的。”露茜説。
稍過一會兒他才高興起來，不過分手對雙方都是痛苦的，我也不細説了。下午兩點左右，他們備足了糧食和飲用水(雖然他們原以為自己既不需要吃，也不需要喝)，再把雷佩契普的小筏子放在小船上，小船就離開黎明踏浪號，一直劃過那片無邊無際的百合花。黎明踏浪號飄起所有旗幟，掛出盾形紋章，為他們隆重送行。他們在下邊，周圍都是百合花，往上看這條大船又高大又親切。他們目送大船掉頭，開始慢慢向西劃去，走得不見影兒了。露茜雖然掉了幾滴眼淚，可是她並不像你所想的那麼難受。那種亮光，那份寧靜，銀海那種扣人心絃的味兒，説來也怪，甚至連那份孤獨都太令人激動了。
用不着再划槳，因為那股水流不斷把他們的小船漂向東面。他們沒一個人睡覺，也不吃飯。整整那一夜，第二天整整一天，他們的小船都朝東漂流，到了第三天拂曉——天色那麼明亮，你我就算戴上墨鏡也受不了——他們看見前面有一大奇觀。彷彿是一堵牆擋立在他們和天空之間，一堵青灰色、顫巍巍、亮閃閃的牆。隨後出太陽了，初升起時他們是透過這堵牆看見的，太陽幻出奇異的彩虹。他們這才知道那實際上是一道又長又高的波浪——一道永遠固定在一處的波浪，恰如瀑布邊上經常可以看到的水簾似的。看來有三十英尺高，那股水流正飛速把他們的小船漂向那道波浪。你可能以為他們會想到處境危險吧。他們才不呢。我想，任何人在他們這種處境中都不會想到危險。因為他們現在不僅看到波浪後面的景象，而且看到太陽後面的景象。如果他們的眼力沒經受過最後一片大海那水的鍛鍊，他們連太陽也不能看。可是他們現在竟能看着太陽升起，看得清清楚楚，還看見太陽外面的景象。他們朝東邊看，只見太陽後面有一列山脈。山很高很高，他們不是望不到山頂就是忘了。誰也不記得看到那個方向有天空。那山脈一定確實就在這世界的外面。因為任何山峯，即使只及那山的幾十分之一那麼高，山上也應當有冰雪。但這些山儘管看上去高，卻是暖洋洋、綠油油，到處是森林和瀑布。突然間，東方吹來一陣微風，把浪峯吹成泡沫狀，把他們周圍平滑的水面吹皺。這隻有一眨眼工夫，可是這三個孩子對那一眨眼工夫卻終身不忘。這陣風帶來了一股香味和一種聲音，是一陣音樂的聲音。事後愛德蒙和尤斯塔斯都對此事絕口不談。露茜只説得出，“真叫你心都碎了。”“啊呀，”我説，“真那麼難過嗎?”“難過?不。”露茜説。
那小船裏的人都深信自己正看到世界盡頭的外邊阿斯蘭的國土了。
這時，咔嚓一響，小船擱淺了。這會兒水太淺了，連小船都浮不起。“這就是我單獨上路的地方了。”雷佩契普説。
他們連攔都不想攔它，因為現在似乎一切都是命中註定的，或者以前發生過的。他們幫它把小筏子放下水。於是他卸下劍，一下子把劍遠遠扔到百合花盛開的海面那邊。“我再也用不着這劍了。”它説。那劍落下水，就筆直插在那兒，只有劍把露在水面上。於是它跟他們告別，竭力裝作為他們難過的樣子；可是暗地裏卻高興得直哆嗦。露茜頭一回，也是最後一回，做了她一直想要做的事，把它摟在懷裏，愛撫了一通。於是它匆匆上了小筏子，划起槳，捲進水流就順流漂走了，在百合花的襯托下顯得黑黑的。不過波浪上沒長百合花，那是一片滑溜溜、綠茵茵的坡面，小筏子越走越快，衝過波浪那一側時可真壯觀。就在那一剎那間他們看到小筏子的輪廓和站在上面的雷佩契普的輪廓。後來就不見蹤影了，從此以後誰也不能真正自稱看見過老鼠雷佩契普。不過我相信它平安到達了阿斯蘭的國土，到今天還健在呢。
太陽一出來，世界外邊那些高山就漸漸消失。那道波浪還在，可是波浪後面只見藍天了。三個孩子走下小船，蹬着水——不是朝波浪走去，而是朝南走，那道水牆在他們左面。他們沒法告訴你為什麼這樣做；這是他們的命運。雖然他們在黎明踏浪號時感到自己長得很大了，而且也是長大了，可是眼下他們的感覺卻恰恰相反，他們蹬過那片百合花時大家手拉着手。他們絲毫不感到疲倦。海水暖洋洋，而且一直越來越淺。終於走到乾燥的沙地上，接着又走到草地上——好大一片草原，長着細細短短的草，幾乎同銀海一樣高，向四面八方鋪展開去，連個鼴鼠窠都沒有。
當然，不長樹木的平地總是如此，看上去天空和草地就在他們眼前相接。但等他們走上前去，卻有個最離奇的印象，就是這裏的天終於真正同地相接了——一堵藍牆，非常明亮，但結結實實，特別像玻璃。他們很快就確定了。現在非常近了。
不過在他們和天邊之間，青草上有樣東西自得連他們那種鷹眼都難以正視。他們上前一看，原來是隻小羊。
“來吃早餐吧。”小羊説，聲音親切而柔和。
這時他們才頭一回看到草地上有個火堆，上面烤着魚。他們坐下來吃着魚，多天來還是頭一回感到肚子餓呢。這是他們所嚐到過的最美味的一頓飯菜了。
“小羊，請問這條路是到阿斯蘭國土去的吧?”露茜問。
“這條路不是你們走的，”小羊説，“你們到阿斯蘭國土去的門在你們自己的世界裏。”
“什麼!”愛德蒙説，“我們的世界裏也有一條路通到阿斯蘭的國土嗎?”
“所有的世界都有一條路通到我的國土。”小羊説，話音剛落，一身雪白的毛就變成亮閃閃的金褐色，個子也變大了，原來它就是阿斯蘭，高高居上，鬣毛散發出金光。
“啊阿呀，阿斯蘭，”露茜説，“請告訴我們怎麼才能從我們的世界走進你的國土呢?”!
“我將不斷告訴你，”阿斯蘭説，“可是我不會告訴你這條路有多長多短；只是這條路要過一條河。但不用害怕，因為我是個了不起的造橋專家。好，來吧，我要打開天門，送你們回自己的地方去。”
“阿斯蘭，”露茜説，“我們臨走前，請你告訴我們，我們幾時再能回到納尼亞來?請你千萬，千萬，千萬讓這一天早點來，好嗎?”
“親愛的，”阿斯蘭非常温和地説，“你和你哥哥今後不會再回到納尼亞來了。”
“啊呀，阿斯蘭!”愛德蒙和露茜兩人都大失所望地齊聲説。
“孩子們，你們年齡太大了，”阿斯蘭説，“你們現在必須開始接近自己的世界了。”
“你知道，不是納尼亞，”露茜啜泣説，“是你。我們不會在那兒見到你了。今後永遠也見不到你，叫我們怎麼活啊?”
“親愛的孩子，可你們會見到我的。”阿斯蘭説。"
“難道——你也在那兒，閣下?”愛德蒙説。
“我在，”阿斯蘭説，“不過在那兒我用的是別的名字。你們必須學會知道我的名字。正是這個緣故，所以才把你們帶到納尼亞來，你們在這兒認識我一段時間，在那兒就可以對我更瞭解。”
“那麼尤斯塔斯也永遠不能回到這裏來了?”露茜説。
“孩子啊，”阿斯蘭説，“你當真需要知道那點嗎?來，我在天上開一扇門。”説着藍牆上頓時出現一個裂口(像窗簾撕開了)，一道可怕的白光從天外照進來，他們覺得捱到阿斯蘭的鬣毛，腦門上印着獅王的親吻，於是——又回到劍橋艾貝塔舅媽家的裏屋了。
另外只剩兩件事還需要交代一下。一件是凱斯賓和他手下全都安全回到拉曼杜的島上。三位爵爺都從沉睡中醒來。凱斯賓娶了拉曼杜的女兒為妻，最後他們都到達納尼亞，她成了一個了不起的王后，和幾個了不起的國王的母親和祖母。另一件事是在我們自己的世界裏，不久人人都開始説尤斯塔斯如何長進：“你決不會知道他就是從前那個孩子。”只有艾貝塔舅媽卻説他變得非常平凡，而且討厭，一定是受了佩文西家那幾個孩子的影響。
